Conservative Opinion on Election from England

[RonD1120 62]

I received the following piece from my long time friend Jim Hooper. Hoop and I went to USF at the same time and jumped together at Z-Hills. He later purchased the DZ and successfully ran it until he sold it to George Kabeller who sold it to Skydive City.

Hoop moved to England in the mid-'80s and became a war correspondent and author. He has lived in England for 30+ years now.

I find it enlightening and encouraging that after all this time, British socialism has not changed his American values.

The following is his opinion and is reprinted here with his permission.

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Though of a naturally conservative nature, I do try to get a range of views from both sides of the aisle. And from what I’ve read, most of the postmortems have diagnosed the same pathogen: Progressives who don’t understand why Middle America despises their obsession with social engineering or, more to the point, don’t give a shit what Middle America thinks. Über-liberals at the likes of the NYT, Washington Post, Boston Globe and many others in the homogenized MSM are still tying themselves in knots blaming everyone outside their dinner party circles. Our industry never put a thumb on Wonderful Hill’s side of the scales or impugned the fascist Trump. Not once.

A couple I’ve known for three decades sat at my table a couple of years ago gushing over Obama. When I hazarded my own opinions, the wife, with expression and tone more suitable to enquiring if I had an incurable cancer, whispered, “Are you a racist?” I could voice admiration for Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Ben Carson or Sheriff David Clarke and be treated to condescending smiles; but take less than worshipful view of the sainted Barack, then I’m itching to don my white robe and light crosses on the lawns of African American churches. In the aftermath of Hillary being put out to the pasture of speaking tours, I’ve become a non-person. It hasn’t been an isolated reaction.

A recent column in the British lefty newspaper The Guardian synthesized the phenomenon. Among the many things the writer pitied about the Deplorables was their fixation on “political correctness” (her quotation marks) as a means of throttling debate. Not true, she insisted. Inasmuch as the piece led with Trump Supporters Should Be Vote-Shamed, I was left wondering if the woman was making a stab at irony or merely suffered a deficit of self awareness. After all, she preached, Trump voters qualify for every –ist and –phobe in our dictionary; whichever sub-sub-sub category is the latest fashion; and, yes, per Godwin’s Law, neo-Nazis. How dare they question an Executive Order ensuring the gender-confused have an inalienable right to choose which changing rooms and toilets they use? Have they no sense of social justice? The nerve!

Sniggering at the hayseeds, greasy-handed mechanics and those smudged from working underground, Madame Eco-warrior played to her gallery by gloating that she was going to put a lot of miners out of work. Most Bessamer furnaces were already cold because of subsidized imports so no need of the filthy fuel. We’ll forego mentioning the hundreds of coal-fired Chinese power stations built every year, many producing the cheap steel that cost you losers your jobs.

It wasn’t those trying to keep their heads above water who single-handedly rafted Trump ashore; it was the progressive Left who took every shrieking minority group to its bosom as a worthy cause but ignored the less vocal. And in the process cheered when the DOJ mutated into the Department of Thought Crime and Re-education, with Grand Inquisitors Holder and Lynch ordering their underlings to pounce at the first hint of heresy. The message was clear. To hell with the First Amendment: speaking your mind has consequences.

Citizens who choose to wear the uniform and stand ready to deploy wherever ordered, have been treated with equal contempt. Obama and Co’s commitment to modernity - to be continued under Hillary - meant feminizing the warrior spirit through the mantra of inclusivity. Or is it diversity? I can't keep up with the constantly evolving lexicon. If women haven’t the physical strength to pass the Ranger selection course, for example, then why must it be so difficult? Misogynists and their patriarchal culture have no place in today's military, our betters sniffed. Speaking out against such divisive, indeed life-threatening policies was sufficient to end a career.

Trump and Brexit were propelled by the same phenomenon. With Italy cutting its halter to the EU, and France, Germany and Holland straining at the bit, Europeans are telling Brussels what the American rubes told High-priestess Hillary and her acolytes: You. Haven’t. Listened. Pray forgive our lack of gratitude for being told we're too thick to know what's good for us.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[GeorgiaDon 380]

How sad to be burdened with such hate.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[jakee 1,596]

Yes Ron, we get it. You poor downtrodden white, conservative, christian males are the most discriminated against class in the whole of western society. Life must be so hard for you. My heart bleeds.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[normiss 898]

Allahu Akbar!

[kallend 2,151]

How does your friend enjoy the universal healthcare system and other government supplied benefits in the UK? Seems to me that his "conservative" credentials are somewhat compromised and self-serving.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Stumpy 284]

I'm sure he's the same as Ron in that regard. Happy to receive welfare but condemns it in anyone else.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[gowlerk 2,277]

As a so called effeminate, uber liberal, dinner party going,truck driving Canadian, I also offer my condolences for your deep seated resentment over losing the culture wars. Despite this election result your world has changed and will not return to the white patriarchal hypocritical religious era you long for.

The battle cry has been given. The Trump administration will energize the left from it's lethargy. You ain't seen nuthin' yet.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[JerryBaumchen 1,468]

Hi Ron,

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I find it enlightening and encouraging

I'm sure that you do. However, IMO Jim has gone off of the deep end.

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Most Bessamer furnaces were already cold because of subsidized imports so no need of the filthy fuel.

While there is a modicum of truth there, they really went cold because they would not keep up with modernization; gotta have those dividends.

I worked with 'big steel' for over 30 yrs, I have some knowledge of this industry.

Jerry Baumchen

[kallend 2,151]

JerryBaumchen

Hi Ron,

Quote

I find it enlightening and encouraging

I'm sure that you do. However, IMO Jim has gone off of the deep end.

***Most Bessamer furnaces were already cold because of subsidized imports so no need of the filthy fuel.

While there is a modicum of truth there, they really went cold because they would not keep up with modernization; gotta have those dividends.

I worked with 'big steel' for over 30 yrs, I have some knowledge of this industry.

Jerry Baumchen

Bessemer furnaces were already obsolete when I was a student in the '60s. They were replaced by basic oxygen furnaces such as the L-D, which originated in Austria/Germany. These were more efficient than open hearth furnaces, and could handle hot iron from lower grade (high phosphorus) ores which were unsuitable for the Bessemer. Ron's friend is completely off the mark with this one (as well as the rest of his rant).

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Hoop 0]

Full disclosure: I penned the piece precisely to irritate progressives. “Micro-aggressions!” “Safe places!” “No platforming!” Sounds like a roomful of swooning maiden aunts.

Had I known how easy it would be to bait the species, I’d have added more hooks. You have no idea how much your snarls have boosted a wonderful sense of schadenfreude. Thank you and I mean that sincerely. It’s so satisfying when clichéd core beliefs are exhibited. Makes it so much easier to reel them in for a bang-up fish fry.

Perhaps you’ve been emboldened these last few weeks by the cookie-cutter rants of Ms Gaga, R Gere, M Sheen, C Sheen, M Moore, C Miley and other potty-mouthed intellectuals. It’s telling that not one of them understands the implications of Godwin’s Law, which, broadly speaking, means that as soon as the Hitler/Nazi/Fascist insult is puked up, the speaker has lost the argument. Probably safe to assume everyone here voted for High Priestess Hillary, so I just gotta ask: who collected on Like-A-Virgin-Honey Bun’s promised blowjob? Say what you want about her, but the gal’s got class.

What they all refuse to acknowledge is how their devotion to trendy causes and demand that everyone believes the same, was a major factor in the election outcome. Reminds me of the boy who murdered his parents and then asked the judge for clemency because he was an orphan.

By the bye, for the Kool-Aid-drinking anodyne weepers here, try writing something original rather than plagiarizing or paraphrasing dimwits.

Enough of the preamble. Let’s move on to examining and deconstructing a few of the wonderfully insightful comments here.

GeorgiaDon: "How sad to be burdened with such hate."

It would take a good deal of manipulating to find “hate” in my piece. At first I was puzzled by the tortured interpretation, until realizing it’s a classic example of Freudian projection. A little Googling will reveal this is a common trait amongst those suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, itself a sine qua non for any self-respecting progressive.

Jakee: "Yes Ron, we get it. You poor downtrodden white, conservative, christian males are the most discriminated against class in the whole of western society. Life must be so hard for you. My heart bleeds."

Rather than addressing anything in my screed (I made no reference to white, conservative, Christian males), good ol’ Jakee (like GeorgiaDon) spindles, folds and mutilates to find an outlet for his snarkiness. Tell me, are the white, conservative, Christian males you refer to the same demographic that voted in their millions for BB in 2008 and 2012? You know, the ones he insulted within weeks of taking office by sneering at their guns and Bibles? Are they the same white, conservative, Christian males who suddenly became irredeemable deplorables because they didn’t give their votes to Holy Hillary this time? What abusive adjectives does Jakee apply to the 52% of white female voters who chose Trump? Come on, Jakee, I’m confused, help me out here; what are your criteria for who’s worthy or unworthy? Something else you might also explain, please, is why the curled lip when using those adjectives? Interestingly, Ron and I are not as one on the subject of Christianity, something we’ve discussed a number of times in the past. Just as I’ve never tried to sway him from his sincerely-held beliefs, so he has never asked me to accept his. Nor has he ever disparaged those who share my brand of devout atheism. So congratulations, Jakee, for demonstrating, like all good progressives, your conditional devotion to diversity and inclusivity. Heartwarming. Really.

Normiss: "Allahu Akbar!"

Perhaps I’m just too unsophisticated to understand if there’s a hidden meaning in Normiss’ contribution. But if he wants to discuss my views on followers of the Prophet (PBUH) I could start with being snatched by Iranian-backed mujahedin while covering the war in Bosnia. Listening to them laugh as they discussed how and when they were going to kill me left an indelible impression. Funny, that. Maybe I could share a few jolly insights I gained in, say, Yemen; or northern Sudan; or Egypt; or Tunisia; or Turkey. Oops, I’m so bad. I forgot that all cultures are equal. How insensitive of me. Maybe Normiss will remind us of BB’s dictum that “Islam is a peaceful religion.” He said it often enough: in Cairo, the UN, the Rose Garden, various universities, so it must be true. Islamic terrorism? Perish the thought.

Curious how the earlier-mentioned show-biz icons lead the charge for women’s rights, yet never attack some of the charming traditions prevalent in Muslim societies: female genital mutilation, honour killings, forced to wear burqas, banned from education, adulterers stoned to death (but only if they’re females). Do the libtards know that rape is rape only if there are at least six male witnesses to the act? Oh, and let’s not forget progressive support of sexual orientation rights. How come the luvvies aren't screeching about the Koran/Quran’s commandment to kill homosexuals? The deafening silence must be because all cultures are equal - unless it’s a culture of white, conservative, Christian patriarchs in Middle America. Then they’re deplorable. I’ll be grateful to anyone who can explain any of these fine progressive hypocrisies.

Kallend poses a rhetorical question: "How does your friend enjoy the universal healthcare system and other government supplied benefits in the UK? Seems to me that his “conservative” credentials are somewhat compromised and self-serving."

As a writer I’ll give Kallend a Pass on syntax; as a journalist I give him a big, fat Fail for hammering on his keyboard without knowing the facts. So let me enlighten him. It’s a little convoluted, but bear with me. After selling Z’hills and moving to the UK I began paying taxes and making my monthly NI contributions. Two years later, while covering the war in Namibia, I was shot, the bullet leaving a fragment lodged against the median nerve and brachial artery. It was a most disagreeable experience. The military primary trauma centre had doctors galore but none qualified to address the damage, except to shoot me up with morphine every six hours. So I hied myself to Cape Town where a little micro-neurosurgery removed the fragment and a swatch of T-shirt wrapped around it. This was not a cheap repair. When I called my UK bank manager, a skydiver and former Z’hills habitué, he suggested I buy insurance. Naaah, I said, it ain’t gonna happen again. Contrary to my instructions, however, he took out a policy on me. Less than three weeks after that bullet I was back shooting warry pictures. And guess what: two months after that it did happen again. The five-inch path the mortar shrapnel made from forearm to upper arm was messy but the trauma centre had army surgeons for whom this was an easy-peasy debridement. What they couldn’t fix was a hand that refused to open. “Probably just neurapraxia,” said the surgeon, who’d seen plenty of similar cases. "Should be fine in a couple of weeks."

Having a flipper that didn’t work ended my time in the field and I returned to the UK, to begin writing my first book. Despite the prognosis, months went by with no improvement. Getting into the queue for a NHS operation was going to take a year or more. But then my bank manager smacked me upside the head with the insurance policy. It wasn’t long before a neurosurgeon was slicing, dicing and cleaning up an adhesion where the radial nerve had been nicked. Recovery wasn’t immediate but within six months I had 90% movement in the hand and wrist.

Inasmuch as I was heading off to embed with UNITA rebels I thought it sensible to keep up with the premiums. (I may be a slow child but not that slow.) Good thing, ‘cause after almost eight months trekking through central Angola I went down with severe malaria. (As GeorgiaDon may confirm, it’s a disease that makes you think you’re gonna die and feeling so bad you’re afraid you won’t.) Back in the UK, it was recurring two or three times a year. Rather than go through the NHS, I hauled out the insurance policy again and put myself in the hands of a tropical disease specialist. Again for GeorgiaDon’s benefit, most results came back with Plasmodium Vivax and at least one with P. Falciparum. (Don't ask me.)

As a journalist who dislikes clichés or ambiguities, I have to ask Kellend what he means by, “IMO Jim has gone off of the deep end.” What, when, from where and how does one go off the “deep end”? And what empirical evidence leads him to that sophomoric and imprecise conclusion?

But never mind, if Kallend has any more all-knowing comments, I hope he won’t hesitate to share them with us.

Gosh, and now we come to Gowlick’s measured reaction: "As a so called effeminate, uber liberal, dinner party going,truck driving Canadian, I also offer my condolences for your deep seated resentment over losing the culture wars. Despite this election result your world has changed and will not return to the white patriarchal hypocritical religious era you long for. The battle cry has been given. The Trump administration will energize the left from lethargy. You ain't seen nuthin' yet."

Hmmm, I have no idea who this ultra-sophisticated Gowlick is, don’t know what his predilections are and frankly don't care, though he should understand I used the root word as a verb rather than, as he does, an adjective. Thundering across Canada’s landscape seems to have given him long hours to assemble a string of progressive clichés. By “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet”, does he mean more violent demonstrations? More weeping and hyperventilating at the unfairness of democracy? More efforts to overturn the US Constitution? More limitations on free speech? More social engineering? More targeted welfare programs to buy more votes next time? But if vomiting all those clichés gives him solace, then I recommend he bolts together an even longer and more delusional list. I’m sure it will make those white, patriarchal, hypocritical, religious males (and females) desert all those ugly constructs and vote en mass for the next progressive candidate. I suppose it’s possible there’s a parallel universe out there, so go for it, pal.

Jerry Baumchen – at last here’s someone who addresses something in my text, if only to correct it, for which I’m grateful. Good to know Bessamers became passé years ago. That’s a fact (rather than a feeling) from someone who knows what he’s talking about. But then, metallurgy is founded on empirical evidence and requires more than a modicum of academic focus. Am also guessing it goes hand in glove with a solid grasp of inorganic chemistry and qualitative-quantitative analysis. Me, I failed to understand even basic high school chemistry, so well done to Jerry. I got a hint of the academic rigour required when looking at my brother’s original research data for his MSc thesis on stress corrosion. Completely bewildered, I headed for the drop zone.

That’s it, boys and girls. Great fun, but my publisher, a stickler for deadlines, is drumming his fingers so I’d better get back to scanning more of my warry photos and writing captions. In the meantime, allow me to offer a little advice to all the delicate flowers and swooning maiden aunts sniffling into their lavender-scented hankies: put down your organic soya latte and accept that you don’t have an inalienable right to everything on your wish list. If that’s too painful a reality, then you might look for an inviolable safe place. BB likes Havana, and your old Ché T-shirts would fit right in. On the other hand, Viva Maduro T-shirts are going for pennies in Caracas, where progressive socialism has worked so well that even toilet paper is rationed. And you’d never have to worry about those progressive dictatorships being kicked out by something as crude as democracy. It’s not allowed.

www.jimhooper.co.uk

[jakee 1,596]

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Had I known how easy it would be to bait the species, I’d have added more hooks. You have no idea how much your snarls have boosted a wonderful sense of schadenfreude.

What thread have you been reading?

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Rather than addressing anything in my screed

Why would I? I was talking to Ron, not you. Sorry if that's too hard for you to understand!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[gowlerk 2,277]

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“You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet”, does he mean more violent demonstrations? More weeping and hyperventilating at the unfairness of democracy? More efforts to overturn the US Constitution? More limitations on free speech? More social engineering? More targeted welfare programs to buy more votes next time?

Nice piece of work there. But it's so over the top that it will fail to fully irritate your targets. You seem to have had some success in your writing career. I would have to conclude that a good editor is at least partially responsible. But at least you are not afraid to use a lot of words.

To clarify my meaning, I was talking about more people of self defined gender using whatever bathroom they like. Look out, it's coming to your world soon. (Actually it's already arrived, but you just don't know it yet.)

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[RonD1120 62]

Good job Hoop!

My apologies for not replying back channel as requested. We have been entertaining and being entertained by family, friends and other Christian deplorables up here in the mountains.

I'm looking forward to reading more responses. However, Gowlerk may have zeroed in on the reality of the SC. You are way above the heads of the progressive liberal socialists that regularly visit this forum.

I suspect many will put up heavy defenses to protect their fragile ego-linear thought stream and dismiss you without further opposition.

I hope not.

Thought for the day, President Trump may not be the answer for all our nation's ills but he is the cowboy that turned the lead steer and stopped the stampede.

Blessings to you in 2017.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[jakee 1,596]

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However, Gowlerk may have zeroed in on the reality of the SC. You are way above the heads of the progressive liberal socialists that regularly visit this forum.

That is so not what he said!

Still, I guess it flatters your ego-linear thinking to pretend it is

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[kallend 2,151]

Since you are SO clever, explain why your over-the-top rant is "in reply to" a post about the Bessemer converter?

It certainly was a nice showcase for your arrogance and hypocrisy.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[gowlerk 2,277]

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I'm looking forward to reading more responses. However, Gowlerk may have zeroed in on the reality of the SC. You are way above the heads of the progressive liberal socialists that regularly visit this forum.

I suspect many will put up heavy defenses to protect their fragile ego-linear thought stream and dismiss you without further opposition.

Sigh, ...despite the name calling and desperate efforts of you and yours social progress just keeps rolling along. Jesus would be happy about it. Even if you are not.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 898]

It's just Ron's typical religious rant here, god is great blah blah blah.
No other inference intended.

Religion is insane, no matter what color you paint it.

Comparing other nation's insanity of whatever their laws are means what to US law?
I'll never understand that. We can't do a damn thing about their laws, what do you gain throwing it in other folks faces?
Simply because a nation that supports religious laws exists, Americans are at fault? How do you reach your inaccurate assumptions?


I see, like Ron, you favor calling those you disagree with names.
Childish and inaccurate.

Very difficult to understand your rants bud.
Which explains why your book, for me, was unreadable.
Better luck with your next one I suppose.

[Hoop 0]

No idea which of my nine books you tried to read, but I suspect none of them. Inasmuch as three have been best-sellers, I guess that puts you in a minority regarding their being readable; no surprise coming from someone who relies on repetitive emojis and the illiterate "blah blah blah", the marks of someone who can't write. So it's a relief that you didn't like whichever title you claim to have tried to read.

Insulting Ron for his beliefs that in no way inconvenience you merely demonstrates adolescent pettiness. Your attack on Christians but not Islam - the only other religion I mentioned - is an excellent demonstration of progressive moral relativity. I love it when someone so perfectly proves my point.

[Hoop 0]

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You seem to have had some success in your writing career. I would have to conclude that a good editor is at least partially responsible.

It seems you know little or nothing about the publishing world. I allow sub-editors to do no more than highlight typos. If they know the subject matter as well as I do I allow suggestions in the margins. It's one of the conditions I've set in the last seven contracts I've signed.

[gowlerk 2,277]

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It seems you know little or nothing about the publishing world.

I know nothing at all of the publishing world. I am left to conclude that you put more care into your paid work than into your posting here. Which is fair enough.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[normiss 898]

Again, you assume wrong.

Again, religion is insane no matter which flavor you prefer.
Yours is no different than the rest in the celebration of death as your reward.
Enjoy your celebration.

[Hoop 0]

kallend

Since you are SO clever, explain why your over-the-top rant is "in reply to" a post about the Bessemer converter? It certainly was a nice showcase for your arrogance and hypocrisy.

My hypocrisy? Just can't get away from Freudian projection, can you? Very clever way to avoid addressing the issues in my "OTT rant". But that's okay; it's pretty much what I expect from people who suffer faintness of breath when they're challenged. You must have resented the clarification regarding my reliance on the UK's national health service. Cheer up; you'll grow out of it eventually.

[Phil1111 1,183]

Hoop

No idea which of my nine books you tried to read, but I suspect none of them. Inasmuch as three have been best-sellers, I guess that puts you in a minority regarding their being readable; no surprise coming from someone who relies on repetitive emojis and the illiterate "blah blah blah", the marks of someone who can't write. So it's a relief that you didn't like whichever title you claim to have tried to read.

Insulting Ron for his beliefs that in no way inconvenience you merely demonstrates adolescent pettiness. Your attack on Christians but not Islam - the only other religion I mentioned - is an excellent demonstration of progressive moral relativity. I love it when someone so perfectly proves my point.

Ron has inserted his beliefs into his arguments and opinions here for a long time. Sometimes he right, but usually not. For anyone to use religion as a systematic basis for the formulation of their opinions. Then not expect a response to those same fallacious arguments. Is naive. I address these comments to you, Hoop. Not Ron. IMO Ron can and always has taken care of himself.

You use "adolescent pettiness" to describe a response to a Christian based series of opinions and patterns. Of logic, thinking and writing. Yet suggest equal insults to written opinions here to Allah when there is not a Muslim to be found.

We generally try to stay on topic here.

I haven't read your books, But they sound good and actually something that I might read. They seem to have good reviews.I actually met you twice in Z-hills. But thats of course irrelevant for these discussions. What is relevant is that your writing style is to throw petty insults about as a way to validate a point. Its as ineffective as inserting Allah or Jesus into the arguments.

For Ron I'll respond to "Thought for the day, President Trump may not be the answer for all our nation's ills but he is the cowboy that turned the lead steer and stopped the stampede. "

By saying you're partially right. The president, the house and congress. Will more or less lead the herd in a conservative direction. But its republican wins in the house and senate that are equally responsible for turning the herd around.

[kallend 2,151]

Hoop

*** Since you are SO clever, explain why your over-the-top rant is "in reply to" a post about the Bessemer converter? It certainly was a nice showcase for your arrogance and hypocrisy.

My hypocrisy? Just can't get away from Freudian projection, can you? Very clever way to avoid addressing the issues in my "OTT rant". But that's okay; it's pretty much what I expect from people who suffer faintness of breath when they're challenged. You must have resented the clarification regarding my reliance on the UK's national health service. Cheer up; you'll grow out of it eventually.

You are very good with insults. It's a pity your opinions are of lesser quality.

If you are so disappointed with the UK, why did you stay there?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[ryoder 1,590]

kallend

If you are so disappointed with the UK, why did you stay there?

I heard it was a high-level diplomatic agreement: If we kept you, they would keep him.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.